In 1973, writers Salim-Javed redefined the grammar of Hindi
cinema by introducing the angry young man into the popular narrative.
The success of
Zanjeer prompted Telugu cinema thespian N T Rama Rao to remake it as
Nippulanti Manishi the following year and the film went on to become a Silver Jubilee hit.
Forty years on,
Ram Charan Teja has good reason to be nervous.
Stepping into the shoes of Big B and NTR is after all, no child’s play.
Which is perhaps why he chooses to describe his version of
Zanjeer (titled
Toofan in Telugu) as
Zanjeer re-imagined, not
Zanjeer remade.
Blame it on a DNA-obsessed industry, the expectations from
Ram Charan
are humongous. After all his father is
Chiranjeevi, a veteran of 149
films. Even though he has temporarily retired to play a politician in
real life and spends more time these days being the Union minister of
state for Tourism,
Chiranjeevi is any day more at home mouthing
clap-worthy dialogues. Sample his one-liner at the launch of the first
look of
Toofan in Hyderabad on Monday : “This is like the silence before the storm,
Toofan is about to come.”
Chiranjeevi also made it a point to emphasise that his son has
bettered him because while he took 13 years to do his first Hindi film,
Ram Charan has managed it in six years. Almost suggesting that Bollywood
is the ultimate trophy in a south Indian hero’s cabinet.
Indeed, the urge to make it big in Bollywood has seduced many a big
hero from the south Indian film industry. The first serious foray into
Bollywood was made in the 80s by the two Tamil superstars – Kamal Hassan
and Rajinikanth.
But while Kamal started with a bang with
Ek Duuje Ke Liye, his career in Bombay gradually settled down to a level where he was not getting projects (barring a
Saagar)
that would excite the consummate actor in him. Rajinikanth’s innings in
Bombay was nothing to write home about. In hindsight, both lacked the
skillsets for tasting long-term success in Hindi cinema – which
essentially meant the right Hindi accent and north Indian looks.
The Telugu heroes – Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh – too
followed suit, again to taste average success. The reason none of them
set Bombay on fire was because they did not bring anything new to the
table, something that a Bombay hero could not do. Moreover, all of them
suffered from the label of a Madrassi hero, that Bollywood and the
audience north of the Deccan gave them.
Malayalam superstars like Mohanlal and Mammootty never made any
serious attempt to do too many Hindi films, their attempts at best
half-hearted. It came to be accepted that south Indian stars cannot
shine in Bollywood.
Of late, heroes like
Rana Daggubati (with
Dum Maro Dum and
Department) and
Dhanush (with
Raanjhnaa)
besides
Ram Charan have decided to give Bollywood a shot. The big
hurdle is their stardom that restricts them from experimenting with
roles. None of the heroes can for example do a Prakash Raj, for who it
does not matter in which language he is playing a bad man in. As an
actor, it is easy for him to cross boundaries something a star cannot,
because of the money that rides on him.
Because
Zanjeer is an
Amitabh Bachchan movie revisited,
there are bound to be comparisons between the Vijay of 2013 and Vijay of
1973. Not that
Ram Charan is new to the pressure of expectations. Being
C
hiranjeevi’s son, an entire generation still relates to him as the
Megastar’s son, comparing how he dances, fights and emotes to the way
his dad would. Already, in keeping with south Indian cinema’s tradition
of anointing titles, he is being referred to as ‘Megapowerstar’ – a
combination of his father and uncle Pawan Kalyan’s prefixes.
Taking on a huge project like
Zanjeer was a smart decision
because Ram Charan has ensured that he will not go unnoticed in
Bollywood. If he flops, there is always Hyderabad. But if he manages to
impress on debut, he could find some interesting and challenging roles
coming his way from Mumbai.
For now Ram Charan says he intends to focus on Telugu movies, unwilling to keep his feet in two boats and risk a fall.
